School snack bars are always exciting. This school takes its snacking very, very seriously.
Have Pens, Will Travel
16 May 2022 Leave a comment
in 323, 396K, 3D Printing, bubble wand Tags: 3D Print, 3doodler, bubble wand
I took my “pen and plastics” show on the road, this time to my alma mater, as it were, my “COVID-deployment” school. I am referring to 396K, where I taught science to developmentally-disabled k-4 graders — in person, during the “everyone-else-stayed-at-home” COVID year of 2020-2021.
I was welcomed with open arms and good wishes by the staff and students I knew from the previous year.
Here are students making bubble wands and more.
Monitor Burial Ground
19 Jul 2021 Leave a comment
in 323, technology Tags: computer monitor
Whereas many explorers traveled over land and sea to find the fabled elephant burial ground, I just had to walk down Chester Street to find the computer monitor burial ground.
Ant Farm, Day 1
21 May 2021 Leave a comment
in 323, animals, science Tags: ant farm, ants
One Busy Ant is taking the lead in clearing out the tunnel. The other ants are chowing down on a piece of pear. And it was evening and it was morning, day 1.
Butterflies Then, Ants Now
21 May 2021 Leave a comment
in 323, animals, science Tags: ant farm, ants
We set up a new Ant Farm (which took about a month to receive). The ants were a little too live coming out of their testtube when I tried to spill them into the farm, so some of them had to be mashed inside… some survivors are missing body parts.
Implicit Bias Training Crash
20 May 2021 Leave a comment
The whole school – and possbly the whole DOE – was obligated to take an online course today. Naturally it crashed the website. Here are some different screen shots of error messages.
Butterfly Life Cycle
27 Apr 2021 Leave a comment
in 323, Covid 19, deployment, science Tags: butterfly, caterpillar
This was a fun, four-part activity. First the eggs on a leaf (stickers on foam leaf; then making a foam caterpillar of different colors; then twisting a pipe cleaner to make the pupa/cocoon and taping it to a foam twig; then using highlighters to color in in the butterfly. It took exactly 45 minutes, so yeah.

Baby Butterfly!
27 Apr 2021 Leave a comment
in 323, Covid 19, deployment, science Tags: butterfly, caterpillar
I bought painted lady caterpillars, to somehow incorporate them into the April=Animals curriculum. They came.
At first they were littles.
Then they ate
and ate
and got big
and bigger,
then cocooned.
I clipped the cocoons to the big mesh butterfly habitat.
Then we waited.
Sometime today, the first butterfly emerged. I feel like a proud papa!
The Scream
26 Jan 2021 Leave a comment
Warning:
Real screaming, real tantrum. Adjust speakers accordingly.
Imagine having to listen to this while you are teaching a class.